Fantasy Boyfriend #2 (A Tattooed Bad Boy Romance) by Vanessa Stone Page B

I allowed myself to be
entrapped in his web of charisma, looks, and the way he wooed me."
    "Wooed you?" Selena asked, frowning,
emphasizing the word. "Seriously?"
    I made a face. "Okay, maybe not wooed, but he
seduced me. He didn't woo me, he didn't court me, and he didn't-"
    "Honey, that's not what I meant," Selena
said. "But seriously, what were you expecting? Where did you expect this
to go?"
    I stared at her a moment, surprised. "Look, I
know you guys have more experience with dating and in the sex department, but
did I think that he was going to have sex with me on our first date? No! I
mean, who does that?" I was surprised when the girls exchanged yet another
glance. Becky smirked and Selena flashing her teeth in a broad smile. "Okay,
I get it. But I'm not like you guys. I'm not even that interested in sex-"
    "How can you not be interested in sex?"
Becky asked.
    "Well, for one, I haven't had sex that
often," I began. "And second, my limited experiences with it were
less than stellar. To be honest, I could live without it-"
    "If you have the right partner, like you
obviously did with Luke, you'll find that sex can be fun, and it doesn't have
to have any strings attached. As long as you're protected…" she lifted an
eyebrow in question.
    "Yes, I'm protected," I sighed.
    "Then what's the big deal?" she replied.
"You enjoyed the sex, didn't you?"
    "Well, yes, but-"
    "No ifs, ands, or buts," she said. "You
enjoyed the sex, you're protected, and other than the way Luke has behaved
since then, you had a nice time. Leave it at that and don't dwell on it, okay?
We've all been hurt in some way by guys. But Selena and Desiree are right. None
of us should ever give a guy the power to make us feel ashamed, embarrassed, or
foolish.” She paused and looked at each of them in turn. “Now are we going out
or what?"
    After several more minutes of back-and-forth,
cajoling, refusing, and then outright begging, I finally acquiesced and told
the girls that I would accompany them. However, I warned them that I didn't
want to stay late, I didn't want to meet any guys, and I was certainly not
interested in getting drunk. They smiled at me, agreed, and then we all grabbed
our purses and headed out the door. We hailed a cab not far from the sorority
house and made our way deeper into Boston proper. We would go grab a bite to
eat at one of the restaurants downtown and then head over to the club.

 

Chapter 2
    I should've known better. Seriously, I should've known
better and listened to my gut. Every time I allowed myself to be talked into
something that I didn't truly want to do, I ended up paying for it, and tonight
was turning out to be no different. The girls and I had taken a cab to a
restaurant near the club we would be visiting later. The restaurant was fairly
popular with campus students, as well as professors. It was nice, but not too
expensive. The food was good, it offered plentiful seating, and to be quite
honest, the atmosphere was quite enticing. It wasn't a romantic restaurant in
the terms of darkened interiors and candles on the tables, but it wasn't
exactly a Denny's either. It was somewhere in between.
    The girls and I had been seated at a corner booth in
the front corner of the restaurant. A solid wall on one side and windows on the
other, each lined with booths. Tables were scattered throughout the interior,
and at the far end stood a bar, over which hung three television screens, all
showing a different sport. I sat with my back to the wall, but facing a smaller
section of the restaurant that wasn’t very busy. Selena sat to my left, while
Desiree and Becky were seated to my right, each of us with plenty of elbow
room. Their positions blocked me from other diners, which was just fine with
me. I wasn't at all fond of having people watch me eat.
    I hadn’t been paying too much attention about what was
going on around me, turned inward and stoking my self-absorbed and self-induced
pity party. The server arrived at the table